HAPPY (EARLY) TURKEY DAY!

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." ~H.U. Westermayer

I hope wherever Thanksgiving Day finds you that you are all happy, healthy, safe and in the presence of your loved ones!

G & J

i had a terrible dream last night, one of those one's where you wake up and you can't shake it off because it felt so real. i literally woke up to my heart aching. zane's best friend had died. and it was even more terrible because he's getting married this may to his high school sweetheart, another close friend of zane's. anyway it just reminded me of the BBQ we had with them this summer in tri-cities, and all the good memories we've had with them, and how much we love them and we're glad they're still happy and healthy!

part gypsy?

i'm thinking i have some gypsy blood flowing thru my veins because i'm so inclined to move from place to place. i've ordered 5 different 'relocation packets' for now on behalf of my bosses upcoming move late this summer. Some of the major cities being thrown out there are these: Salt Lake City, Utah, Boise, Idaho, Flagstaff, Arizona, Denver, Colorado and Dallas, Texas. i am least excited about Dallas, Texas which unfortunately sounds like the city that my bosses are leaning towards the most....but time will tell. we've received 3 out of the 5 packets requested so far... and Zane and I have been oogling over the beautiful scenery in the pages of the Boise magazine... as many may know this is where we think we want to end up permanently someday. anyway whatever happens, whether we take Mike and Anna up on their offer to follow their family, or stay a little longer in Florida, or just go directly to Idaho...i'm feeling very excitable about this next adventure!!!

to paint or not to paint...

all three kitchen lights, the hall light, and every lamp in the house dragged out to brighten our light-challenged living room. all the furniture pushed to the middle of the room, and country radio filling the air, playing 'name that tune' before the first words are sung. comfortable silences broken by occasional chatterings, two heads left alone with their noisy thoughts, and the matchless 'mushy' sound of paint transferring from roller to wall.

for awhile now the question has been: to paint or not to paint? on the con side, it seemed like a lot of work especially in light of the newish information that we could be moving sooner rather than later. on the other hand tho, nothing seemed to be making this space less personal than these white walls surrounding us.

so last night the question took a new direction: what color would make our living room feel more cozy and more us? would it be 'olive', 'avocado', 'bread basket'...after spending a half hour in lowe's not getting much of anywhere, we decided to just take a shot in the dark, and walked out with 'mountain trail'

of course, the color on the sample is always slightly different than you originally envision it looking on your walls, in this case, it was much darker than we'd planned. we had thought it would look like a dark-khaki-tan color, but in reality it's more like a coffee-with-light-cream-brown... and with chocolate-brown furniture and lamp bases it makes for a lot of different shades of brown in one room, but this is all part of committing to a color without buying samples first. and in it's defense, as all dark colors never fail to do, it makes the room feel a little smaller, making it feel a little snugger, and the light coffee color adds the warmth to the room that i've been craving for some time now. so i am satisfied.

we had to laugh because this is our third painting adventure together now, and by pure coincidence every occasion has been right before Thanksgiving. The first time being in Pasco on Road 68, when November just happened to be the month we moved into our first house, and then last year when Zane's family was coming to our apartment for Thanksgiving dinner, we chose to paint our walls a 'cinnamon-peach' color in order to make our home feel more 'polished.' and then this year, yet another attempt to make our space feel more 'homey.' i guess it's just that intense desire this time of year that drives me to do whatever i can to make everything more cozy and warm.

and it's funny, this time around it doesn't seem as 'daunting.' it's just paint. you can just wave your 'magic wand' and turn it back to it's original state if you have a few hours of time to spare. i didn't feel the fear or pressure to acheive perfection, just the peace and satisfation of holding the power to create subtle changes.

fun purchase

zane wants to relay that we are crazy people who hope we REALLY like roller coasters because... we just spent a ridiculous amount of money on annual passes to Universal Studios... one more reason to come visit us!!

November is for Thanksgiving

i've been conscious of a constant running list of things in my head that make me feel thankful because of our approaching holiday. some are silly, some are substantial but all are worthy of being written down. for myself. to remind myself that i am lucky, even on those days when skies are grey.

• taking in my Truelove's face when he laughs without holding back
• Beach House Beanery's homeade apple cider
• fitting into my size "00" jeans again
• catching a glimpse of dolphins in the ocean, thru the windows of the place we call home no less
• eggnog lattes, and thinking of my Gramma because she loves them as much as I do
• Josh Groban's christmas tunes, and singing along unihibited in my car
• being awarded with a fun find at a thrift store after hours of browsing
• brown bag lunches, especially ones with chunks of extra sharp cheddar cheese
• coming home to letters or packages in my mailbox
• being woken up in the middle of the night to my husband pulling me toward him
• the smoky smell of a woodburing stove
• Aidan's two pudgy arms that are just big enough to wrap around my neck when i ask for a hug or a sweet kiss complete with an "mmmm" sound preceding every one without fail.
• easy conversation with an old friend
• beautiful things that make me speechless
• feeling stirred from inspiration
• being on the same page
• an answered prayer or a piece of advice that sets you free
• taylor swift's new cd
• the knowledge that my loved ones are safe
• that my Mom ever gave me a chance to rectify my selfish teenage behavior and inso doing has become my best friend in the process...and allows me to call her a ridiculous amount of times every week, even daily...=-)
• the way my name sounds when Zane says it, like nobody has ever said it before
• anticipation
• fellow closet britney spears fans that come out of their closet
• finding that perfect gift for somebody
• that i can be that person who is there for you when something goes wrong
• seeing results from natural solutions to help rebuild my immune system
• the freedom to dream and to fantasize, and being taken places by these thoughts, even if they never transform into reality. like my most recent of raising kids in big wild alaska someday.
• the irony of a recent fortune cookie fortune
• a good book that pulls you to it anytime you have a free minute to spare

• to be continued...
  

amused

the weatherman has informed us that we are under a 'severe weather watch' in the form of a freeze warning... temperatures in our zip code are to dip down to the 30s, maybe even the 20s... and we are loving it! the cool weather is feeling quite invigorating.

magic words

phone call from zane: "please come downstairs immediately." click. me to myself: "hmmm...all righty then..." it seemed very strange but i obeyed like a good wife=-) and i was rewarded with these beautiful things sitting in my driveway... a norfolk pine and a pointsettia arrangement designed by my husband himself. i cried. the most beautiful part of it all was that earlier that very day i'd gone thru our holiday box and gotten rid of everything except for two strings of lights and some christmas cd's i could listen to alone in my car. and i hadn't just set it aside to get rid of later, i'd actually given it away to someone else already... and that very day zane came home with these thoughtful treasures for me. i adore that we both had the same thought process and acted on it at the same time, both making an effort to make each other happy.

it was the most eerie feeling watching this orange glow come toward me thru our front door as i was sitting on our couch friday night minding my own business. freaking out, i grabbed Zane's arm and demanded him to tell me what was happening. he sprinted out the door and said, "it's the shuttle launch!!" i relaxed instantly, and immediately replaced my fear with feeling lucky. you should've seen the excitement on his face. he's been trying to catch of glimpse of one of these shuttle launches ever since we moved here. we stood in silence for a good three minutes just in complete awe. it was absolutely the most amazing thing i've ever witnessed in my life.

and come to find out the next day we had witnessed history. there are no more night launches. supposedly ever.

and no, i can't claim these pictures as my own. i was too awed to move my eyes and grab my camera.

after hours

the only pix i took by accident were of the glasses zane scored from mike! a pair of dolce and gabbana glasses! foxy eh?

after tucking Evan into bed, we were convinced to stay and hang out with my bosses, Michael and Anna which we actually never do so it was bunches of fun. we sat outside in their garage (weirdly enough, garages are where everyone in Florida hangs out, versus the backyard or porches...) and watched (or more accurately felt) the cold front finally arrive, had easy conversation, played darts and taboo, and danced to linkin park and gym class heros like crazy people with blankets wrapped around our shoulders.

they told us we were like family.

they are making it very hard to write off their offers to follow them wherever they move...

sweet moments

Evan, so excited to see the movie! Zane, a little concerned about our enthusiasm!

saturday evening found us taking Evan with us to see Madagascar II. it ended up being this surprisingly tender night. unprovoked during our car ride Zane looks at me and says, "is it just me or does this feel strangely like we're taking our own daughter out for family night?"

and Evan came up with a system for telling us whether she approved of the movie or not... if it was good she would say, "nose hair" and if she didn't like it she would say, "armpits." so when Zane scooped her up after the movie ended and she could barely keep her eyes open, my heart melted when she managed to say, "nose hair" before we even got the chance to ask her what she'd thought, and then she slept the whole car ride home.

oh my!

one very proud little man showing off his masterpiecei have to watch this little one like a hawk these days as you can see... zane came to our rescue during his lunch break with paint samples and we applied over 10-coats of paint so mommy and daddy wouldn't have heart attacks!!

we made pineapple jello 'jigglers' with heart-shaped cookie cutters, and then they entertained themselves with the leftover jello! very fun to squish between your fingers i must admit...=-)

just another day in the life of being a nanny for aidan and evan=-)

a beautiful family

my life won't be the same when they move away in august...

come for the java, stay for the joint

just enjoying a lazy morning with my downstairs neighbor Elaina and her two-boys Robert and Wesley. we grabbed a late breakfast and some drinks at java joint, the coffee shop two-blocks from us.

silly little man

(as you can see i'm playing catch-up with my photos). imagine my amusement when i looked into my rearview mirror and saw this funny man staring back at me all smug and delighted.

it's all about the compromises!

“Compromise is when one person wants to rob a bank and the other person does not, and they compromise to rob a person outside of the bank.” -Christopher Myers

lol. just making fun of ourselves.

so we've weathered a little 'winter storm' but we've learned some things about each other and all's well that ends well=-)

let's play!

my beautiful sweet evie

such sweet friends to have...

aidan doing his best not to smile!

uh oh nana! i'm stuck!

my babies=-)

we're so sad that leala & cira are leaving us for melbourne. these are just a few delayed photos from our goodbye playdate at this indoors jungle gym. we wish leala all our luck on this part of her journey.

kid humor

today Evan informed me that when its raining that means the clouds are going potty, and when they are black clouds, that means they are angry that their mommy made them go to the potty! duh, didn't you know?!=-)

reality check

Lets play 'what if...' What if you loved cookies, really loved them, everything about them. the process of making them, sometimes even making memories with a good friend or two, and eating the dough by the spoonfuls risking the chance of getting salmonella, and inhaling the wonderful scent that spreads thru the whole house while they bake. and of course eating the finished product while they're fresh out of the oven and still warm and falling apart and leaving trails of melted chocolate chips on your lips...and then saving some for the freezer so you could anticipate the yumminess that is frozen chocolate chip cookies. now, what if your favorite person on this planet, the one you love the very most decided one day to reveal to you that cookies weren't really his thing, that he'd merely been putting up with them for years because it made other people happy, and in fact it made him annoyed and sick to his stomach to even smell them, let alone eat them... and all things relating to cookie baking would be gotten rid of if he could have his way. now, what if instead of cookies, that thing was christmas, and it was a true story, not just a silly made up joke? no strings of pretty blue lights, or snowman candles or garlands to wrap around railings or wreaths on your door that make your house smell like a christmas tree farm... and no jolly tunes to fill a room with christmas spirit. sure he said i could do it all, like every other year before, but with the new knowledge of how unhappy it makes him feel, how could i do that, and enjoy that, and feel the 'magic' of christmas with the one i love. both our reactions to all this have surprised us both i think. his newfound coldness and true dislike of this holiday dating back to as far back as he can remember, even citing a paper he wrote in 3rd grade about his negative feelings toward christmas. and my reaction has been the extreme opposite, realizing how much i truly love this time of year, and all the silliness that comes with it in the form of pretty lights and snowmen and certain songs you can only play during like 1-month out of the year. i'm really just feeling like someone punched me in the stomach. i cried for hours about it last night. i think it's feeling so rawly painful because i feel so powerless; i can't change my favorite person's feelings, i can only change my own...which means living without christmas. sometimes its cool to have such opposite personalities and have someone to give you a different perspective on things. but sometimes it just hurts.

craving winter

the other night i was just mindlessly walking out my front door to go downstairs and fulfil the innocent task of changing out our load of laundry from the washer to the dryer, not at all realizing a deep need in me was about to be rudely awakened...and then i was blasted with the most intoxicating wonderful smell i could ever dream of smelling... someone in our neighborhood was using a wood-burning stove and the smoke had filled the crisp night air. i almost died and went to heaven. the whole quintessential fantasy of winter obviously does not exist in florida and i never dreamed i would literally ache for it. now i feel like a crack fiend. except instead of dope, it's cozy log cabins in a secluded woods, sitting in hot-tubs while it snows, snuggling by a fireplace with a mug of hot spiced apple cider... i actually get grumpy when it's sunny with clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. i mean, doesn't the weather know it's november??? yes i know, i do feel guilty, people pay to visit places like florida to escape their winters... but i'm even considering letting go of my 'rule' of waiting to pull out the x-mas decorations and the x-mas music until after thanksgiving in hopes of easing the pain...and in my car i have a cd of hawaiian music that i listen to while i blast my a/c so i can pretend i'm on vacation when i drive by palm trees seen thru essential sunglasses because the sun is so bright. *sigh* it's admittingly pathetic that pretending to be on vacation makes the lack of winter easier to deal with than enjoying the reality of wearing t-shirts and visiting the beach in november. i'm going to regret this post someday i bet.

baby steps

it's been just over a year since we cancelled our cable television. there is a million excuses i could give as to why we got it to begin with. the biggest one was probably just to help cope with the lonliness of being in a new town, a new state and a new coast even, where the Friends are few and far between and the young Friends even fewer. however, we did feel moved to finally disconnect when it became obvious it was becoming too much of a crutch for us, and to easy to allow too many unnecessary things into our home. but we did keep the t.v. to be able to watch movies... movies felt 'safer' and more in our control but now we're finally getting rid of that too for many of the same reasons as we got rid of our cable. so now we are feeling very old fashioned without a computer (mostly because it hasn't made it onto our financially capable list yet...) or a t.v. but loving the newfound simplicity in our home. we went to target and purchased a couple games like monopoly: the world edition and mancala and a beautiful thomas kincaid puzzle. it was so refreshing to revisit our childhood and spend hours playing a boardgame. altho this monopoly is quite the updated version i have to admit with the electronic banking... you get to play with credit cards! and the world edition has replaced properties like oriental ave. and st. james place with places like shanghai and montreal. what fun to travel around the world in our very own living room=-) anyway i was thrilled to kick my hubby's butt our first game... he went bankrupt while i had 50 mil in the bank. lol. but MOST importantly i can't wait to spend endless cozy nights ahead just enjoying my husbands company interacting (being the key word) together, instead of mindlessly (and silently) watching movies on our couch together.

**for anyone who reads this and takes offense, please don't mistake this as being a judgement for anyone who chooses to have a t.v. in their home. i am just expressing something that has brought happiness and peace to us personally, but we realize what works for us doesn't necessarily work for another.

Zane's Surprise.

So those who know me know I don't typically take surprises well. I'm trying to work on that. Anyway it helps when my hubby does things like he did last thursday night. He came home with Outback Steakhouse take-out... and he got like everything on the menu: bread, caesar salad, bloomin' onions, my favorite chicken dish, and a steak with a baked potato and garlic mashed potatoes!!! And to top it all off he brought home a bottle of my favorite champagne and sparkling apple cider AND chocolate chip cookie dough ice-cream for dessert! Is it ANY wonder why i'm so madly in love with my husband?!

Hmm..

So I get this text message from Zane this morning: Don't make dinner tonight... Hmm. Wondering what he has up his sleeve but i'm feeling very sleepy today so i'm good with not cooking=-)

Loving Fall

The long awaited day when eggnog arrives in the local grocery stores has arrived!

Livin' the 'Salt Life'

Eek! The sun was just setting when we got there...And I thought wearing my hair down was a good idea why???

Mmm, my mouth is watering all over again...
Round #2 for Sally's butter pecan ice-cream! YAY!

Braddigan- such feel good music!

lots of locals!

being oh so serious...=-)

smiles!

thats an ice-cream spoon y'all!

haha, a funny guy at our table wanted in the picture too

so beautiful...

the best part of all this is it's only 20 blocks from our casa!!!

Early Sunday morning; watching the 'tadpoles' a.k.a kids surf competition

Saturday night, Zane bought us tickets for The 9th Annual Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic and Food Festival. Wowee, that's a mouthful, but anywho it was such a good time!! We bundled up in our winter coats and sweaters and leggings (well that was mostly me but ok) because it was a chilly fall evening, but an absolutely gorgeous one! We ate a sampling from 10 of the best local restuarants in our beach community and listened to this fabulous band called Braddigan and mingled with the locals!! Just to make your mouth water a little... check out everything we got to sample! We tried wasabi honey crusted mahi-mahi, shrimp & grits, manhattan fish chowder, black and blue chicken, fish tacos with homemade guacamole and fresh salsa, sausage & peppers, tomato basil mozzarella with balsamic dressing, New Orleans gumbo and rice with homemade spiced apple cider and strawberry banana smoothies!!!! YUUUMMMM!! I want seconds right about now...